Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1887-09-08
PRESERVING FENCES.

Crude Petroleum the Best Substance for
Preventing the Decay of Posts.
The introduc ton of wire fences dur
ing the past century has saved the
farmer large amount of valuable
time and labor, which he has been
able to devote to more profitable en-
ployment than that of rail splitting.
The expensive work of clearing up O.
large tract of woods merely to secure
enough rails to inclose and separate
the fields, reflected little credit on the
intelligence of the owners of large
farms, where several miles of fence
were required. Those who were not
wise enough to grow hedge-fences
found themselves working at a disad-
vantage, and in the long run were
great losers.
Although the barbed wire fence has
solved the problem of building
these most useful of farm auxiliaries,
it has left the question but part
ly answ ered, and there is still plenty
of room for improvement The
greatest cost to farmers, even in the
early days of farming in this country,
was n OF so much the rails as the posts.
after the fences were once built. The
difficulty was then, as it is to-day, that
the post decays very quickly at the
point where it enters the ground To
prevent this continual and rapid decay
has been a deep puzzle for many years,
and medium for preserving the posts
from decay at light cost has been
eagerly sought for. The posts at the
point of decay are alternately exposed
to the saturation of water and drying,
inducing thereby combustion. more or
less active. The action of air and
moisture on any substance is very
marked, and wood and other vegetable
substances are gradually changed to
humus, black impalpable constituent
Of soils.
Various experiments are tried by
farmers to preserve their fence posts
from decay, and in many cases they
succeed partially. Charring the posts
prevents decay for short time on the
outside. but the interior is not affected
in the least by this means. In the same
way tar and paint applied to the sur
face of the posts do not materially pre-
vent decay, as the water soaks up from
below and saturates the post almost as
thoroughly as if not painted at all.
The only feasible plan so far discov-
cred is to saturate the whole post, in
lerior and exterior, with some preserv-
alive substance. Guile petroleum oil is
recommended for this work, on account
of it's cheapness and the ease with
which it can be applied. The posts
should be stood up in tanks con-
tanning the oil, and allowed to remain
there until the wood will absorb no
more oil. The oil should be allowed
to sink into the posts at least foot
above where they are set in the ground.
Not until the oil has been carried
away by natural means, which will be
several years, will decay begin to at
tack the posts. Care must be taken
that the posts are thoroughly dry be-
fore placing them in the oil, otherwise
the petroleum will not penetrate to
the heart of the wood. With this
treatment, if properly performed, the
posts will probably last at least three
times as long as if simply painted with
tar. or charred by fire. The work of
oiling them is not diffiuct, nor is it en-
pensive; in the end it is real econo-
my.-M y Examiner.